German Antitrust Chief Draws Ire

Boege Revitalized Regulator;
Now Companies, Politicians
Bristle at His Independence

By

Matthew Karnitschnig Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Updated Sept. 5, 2005 12:01 a.m. ET

BONN, Germany -- When Germany's economics minister selected Ulf Boege, an unknown career bureaucrat, to run the country's antitrust watchdog six years ago, many viewed the appointment as confirmation the regulator had lost its significance.

As European integration handed more and more power to Brussels, it seemed inevitable the authority's influence would dwindle. As if to underscore its diminishing importance, the government relocated the regulator -- a semiautonomous authority within the economics ministry -- from Berlin...